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Children’s Exposure to Mercury-Contaminated Soils: Exposure Assessment and Risk Characterization

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Abstract

Exposure to mercury (Hg)-contaminated soils may pose a health risk to children by way of oral, dermal, and inhalatory pathways. However, risk characterization studies, including contaminant bioaccessibility with child-specific exposure parameters and scenarios, are lacking. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess children’s Hg exposure using characterization and oral bioaccessibility data from Hg-contaminated soils characterized in previous studies (n = 8); and (2) to characterize probabilistic risk in terms of hazard index (HI) considering ingestion, dermal, and inhalation pathways. Total Hg concentrations in soils ranged from 2.61 to 1.15 × 104 mg kg−1. For moderately contaminated soils (S1–S5: Hg ≤ 12.15 mg kg−1), low oral bioaccessibility values (1.5–7.5 %) lead to HI < 1 in all scenarios. However, exposure to highly contaminated soils (S6–S8) may pose serious risks to children under normal exposure (HI 0.89–66.5) and soil–pica behaviour scenarios (HI up to 131). All three pathways significantly contributed to the risk. Using total Hg concentrations in calculations (assuming 100 % bioavailability) instead of considering Hg bioavailability leads to risk overestimation. Further research on oral, inhalatory, and dermal bioavailability of Hg, as well as child play behaviour, is recommended to obtain more accurate risk estimates.

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Acknowledgments

Authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Mert Guney, Bruno Welfringer, Carl de Repentigny & Gerald J. Zagury

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  1. Mert Guney
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  2. Bruno Welfringer
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  3. Carl de Repentigny
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  4. Gerald J. Zagury
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Correspondence to Gerald J. Zagury.

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Guney, M., Welfringer, B., de Repentigny, C. et al. Children’s Exposure to Mercury-Contaminated Soils: Exposure Assessment and Risk Characterization. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 65, 345–355 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-013-9891-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-013-9891-7

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